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Tennessee football spring practice 3/27/2018: Notes from Jeremy Pruitt’s comments

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 7: A Tennessee Volunteer holds up his helmet in the team huddle before the NCAA football game against the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders at Neyland Stadium on September 7, 2002 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won 26-3. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 7: A Tennessee Volunteer holds up his helmet in the team huddle before the NCAA football game against the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders at Neyland Stadium on September 7, 2002 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won 26-3. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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Tennessee football held another spring practice Tuesday, and Vols coach Jeremy Pruitt was “ticked off.” Here are notes on his comments on the Volunteers.

Related Story: 4 takeaways from Vols first week of spring practice

Moving into the second week of spring practice for Tennessee football, Jeremy Pruitt didn’t seem as friendly with his team Tuesday as he was last week. And he let the media know that he was not happy in his press conference.

While speaking on Tuesday, Pruitt still gave a lot of coach speak. He added some clear things like the fact that there are still no starters, everybody is being evaluated, and they are still looking for competitors. He also refused to single out a group for praise or criticism.

However, there was still a good bit to grasp from the day. You can take a look at the full press conference by clicking here. These are our takeaways from what Pruitt said about Tuesday’s practice.

1. Offense dominated defense

Pruitt immediately came in and said he was “ticked off” and didn’t know whether or not to be mad at the whole team or just the defense for getting beat by the offense. Either way, as noted in the press conference, it can be alarming when the offense is winning early since that time usually favors the defense.

However, Pruitt said it was more due to mental errors and people not being focused in meetings. He added that players didn’t respond right way after two days off. Still, if this is a pattern, it could be a cause for concern.

2. Still nothing permanent on position changes

Pruitt said that he is taking in the whole body of work on all the position changes on the Tennessee football team. It’s clear, though, that we have no idea where Tyler Byrd, Carlin Fils-Aime, Ja’Quain Blakely or Princeton Fant will end up.

“We’re still installing, so we’ll install for five days before we really slow it down,” he said.  

It looks like we’ll have a better idea of this when Tennessee football’s first scrimmage arrives. Pruitt noted that the coaches will then see if they can try them at their new spots or need to move them back.

3. Complete change in styles

It’s common for coaching staffs to install new styles. However, what’s clear here is that Pruitt and his staff are doing everything differently.

He noted that everybody’s like a freshman in the system. After already highlighting how they practice differently, he talked about the change in offensive and defensive systems Tuesday.

The meetings, according to Pruitt, are very different from what they are used to doing.

“They are trying to pick it up,” he said. “There isn’t a lot of crossover from what they’ve done.”

Next: 10 toughest Vols to replace in 2018

With this fact, Tennessee football has a long road ahead. The Vols are clearly starting from scratch under Pruitt and have to do everything new. That means the upcoming season could be even longer. It also may be why Pruitt wants so many graduate transfers. Whatever the case, the Vols are going through a serious learning curve right now.

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